European Background Of American History by Edward Potts Cheyney

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sovereigns is J. H. Mariejol, L'Espagne sous Ferdinand et Isabelle: leGouvernement, les Institutions, et les Moeurs (1892). William H.Prescott, The Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic (variouseditions), is less uncritical in character, and consequently moretrustworthy, than the other works of this author. An important study ofthe personal character of Isabella is Clemencin, Elogio de la ReinaCatolica, in Real Academia de la Historia, Memorias, IV. An importantand suggestive study of this period is W. Maurenbrecher, Spanien unterden Katholischen Konigen: Studien und Skizzen zur Geschichte derReformationszeit (1857). Of somewhat similar character is W. Havemann,Darstellungen aus der inneren Geschichte Spaniens wahrend des XV., XVI.und XVII. Jahrhunderts (1850). The more purely political history isbest given in M. Danvilla y Collado, El Poder Civil en Espana (6 vols.,1885-1887). The expulsion of the Jews is described in the third volumeof J. Amador de los Rios, Los Judios de Espana y Portugal (3 vols.,1875-1876); that of the Moriscos in H. C. Lea, The Moriscos of Spain,their Conversion and Expulsion (1901). Much valuable description ofthis period is also given in H. C. Lea, Chapters from the ReligiousHistory of Spain (1890). Mr. Lea has also an important article, "ThePolicy of Spain towards the Indies" (Yale Review, August, 1899). Themilitary history of Ferdinand's reign is given in P. Boissonade,Reunion de la Navarre a la Castille (1893), and in the large generalhistories of Spain, such as A. Canovas del Castillo, Historia Generalde Espana (1894), and Vicente de la Fuente, Historia General de Espana(30 vols., 1850-1867).

The organization of the Casa da Contractacion is fully described inPrimeras Ordenanzas ... de la Contractacion de las Indias, by J. deVeitia Linage (1672, "made English" by Captain John Stevens, under thetitle The Spanish Rule of Trade to the West Indies, 1702). It is alsodescribed in Richard Hakluyt, Principal Navigations, IV. Economicconditions are further described in two books by K. Habler, Geschichteder Fugger'schen Handlung in Spanien (1897); Die Wirtschaftliche BluteSpaniens im XVI. Jahrhundert und ihr Verfall (1888).

FRANCE IN THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES

The great mass of contemporary writings for this period is publishedpartly in the great Collection de Documents Inedits (about 280 vols.,1835-), partly in other collections, such as that of Michaud etPoujoulat, Correspondance D'Orient, 1830-1831 (7 vols., 1835), andpartly as individual publications. The royal enactments down to 1514are best edited in Ordonnances des Roys de France (21 vols., 1723-1849). The Recueil General des Anciennes Lois Francaises, edited byIsambert and Taillandier (29 vols., 1822-1833), extends later in timebut is inferior in fulness and accuracy.

A short general history of France during this period is A. J. Grant,The French Monarchy, 1483-1789 (2 vols., 1900). Of the excellent work,Lavisse, Histoire de France, the latest section to appear is V., pt.i., by H. Lemonnier, which covers the period 1492-1547.

THE NETHERLANDS AND GERMANY IN THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES

The best history of the Netherlands is P. J. Blok, History of thePeople of the Netherlands (1892, in part translated by Ruth Putnam, 3vols., 1898-1900); J. L. Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic (manyeditions), still has value and much interest, but the work isuncritical and based on inadequate study of the sources. C. M. Davies,History of Holland and the Dutch Nation (3 vols., 1851), is of specialvalue for its attention to the internal organization of the Dutchnation. Robert Fruin, Geschiedniss der Staatsinstellingen in Nederland(edited by H. T. Colenbrander, 1901), is a much more detailed andmodern work, the first two books of which refer to the period of thisvolume. In it are to be found abundant references to the sources ofDutch institutions. Douglas Campbell, The Puritan in Holland, England,and America (2 vols., 1892), is a vivacious work including muchdescription of conditions in Holland and England during this period. Itis, however, written in a spirit of controversial exaggeration whichreduces its historical value to small proportions. The long andvaluable paper "William Usselinx," by J. P. Jameson (AmericanHistorical Society, Papers, II., 1888), contains much informationconcerning political and commercial conditions in the Netherlands.There is a short description of the municipal organization of Hollandin an article by J. F. Jameson in the Magazine of American History,VIII., 315-330. The charter of the Dutch West India Company is in E. B.O'Callaghan, History of New Netherland, I., App. A (1855); and inSamuel Hazard, State Papers, I.

The general history of Germany for this period can be Studied from thefollowing volumes of the series entitled Allgemeine Geschichte inEinzeldarstellungen--viz., F. von Bezold, Geschichte der deutschenReformation (1890); G. Droysen, Geschichte der Gegenreformation (1893);G. Winter, Der dreissigjahrigen Krieges (1893); B. Erdmannsdorfer,Deutsche Geschichte von westfalischen Frieden bis Friedrichs derGrossen (2 vols., 1892). The last work contains in its first book avaluable resume of the results of the Thirty Years' War and thecondition of Germany at the time. E. Armstrong, The Emperor Charles V.(2 vols., 1902), is an excellent account of Germany during the middleyears of the sixteenth century. Anton Gindely, The Thirty Years' War(English translation, 2 vols., 1884), is a standard work on the ThirtyYears' War.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The standard bibliographical guide in early Englishhistory is Charles Gross, Sources and Literature of English Historyfrom the Earliest Times to about 1485 (1900).

GENERAL WORKS.--The best general history of the reign of Henry VII. isW. Busch, England under the Tudors (I., Henry VII., 1895); on the earlypart of the reign of Henry VIII., J. S. Brewer, The Reign of HenryVIII. (2 vols., 1884); J. A. Froude, History of England from the Fallof Wolsey to the Defeat of the Armada (12 vols., 1856-1870).Notwithstanding the criticism to which this work has been subjected itremains the most detailed, serious, and valuable history of England inthe sixteenth century. A. F. Pollard, England under Protector Somerset(1900), is a valuable survey of the period 1547-1551. S. R. Gardiner,History of England from 1603 to 1642 (10 vols., 1883-1884), History ofthe Great Civil War, 1642-1649 (4 vols., 1886-1891), and History of theCommonwealth and Protectorate (3 vols., 1894-1903), form a series ofgreat value, covering more than half of the seventeenth century. HenryHallam, Constitutional History of England (3 vols., 1829), isserviceable. L. O. Pike, Constitutional History of the House of Lords(1894), and A. V. Dicey, The Privy Council (1895), are valuablemonographs.

SOURCES.--The sources for English history during this period are to befound principally in the Acts of the Privy Council (in progress 1890-),Calendars of State Papers (about 300 vols.), Statutes of the Realm,1235-1713 (11 vols.), Journals of the House of Lords (16 vols. to1700), Journals of the House of Commons (13 vols. to 1700), Sir S.D'Ewes, Journals of the Period of Elizabeth (1682), J. Rushworth,Historical Collections (1703), Historical Manuscripts Commission,Reports (106 parts), Deputy Keeper of the Rolls, Public Records,Reports (64 vols.), and in a vast number of detached publications ofcontemporary journals, correspondence, etc.

Many of the most important statutes and other state papers arecollected in G. W. Prothero, Select Statutes and other ConstitutionalDocuments of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James I., 1559-1625 (1894),and S. R. Gardiner, Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution,1628-1660 (1889). Each of these collections has an admirableintroduction discussing the history and institutions of the period.Other collections illustrating the constitutional history of the timeare George B. Adams and H. Morse Stephens, Select Documents of EnglishConstitutional History (1901); and Mabel Hill, Liberty Documents(1901). The following collections of sources also illustrate socialconditions: C. W. Colby, Selections from the Sources of English History(1899); Elizabeth K. Kendall, Source-Book of English History (1900);Ernest P. Henderson, Side-Lights on English History (1900).

COMMERCIAL HISTORY.--The Merchants Adventurers are discussed andillustrated in W. E. Lingelbach, Laws and Ordinances of the MerchantAdventurers (1902), and The Internal Organization of the MerchantAdventurers (1902); in G. Schanz, Englische Handelspolitik (2 vols.,1881); Richard Ehrenberg, England and Hamburg (1896); and CharlesGross, The Gild Merchant (2 vols., 1890). The commercial companiesgenerally are described in Cawston and Keane, The Early EnglishChartered Companies (1896), a book of slight value and limited extentof information apart from the fact that it is practically the only workcovering the field. David Macpherson, Annals of Commerce (4 vols.,1802), is a book of old-fashioned learning on the subject. For the EastIndia Company there is a large literature. Some of the sources are TheCharters of the East India Company (no date or place of publication);Birdwood and Foster, The First Letter Book of the East India Company,1600-1619 (1893); Henry Stevens, Dawn of British Trade to the EastIndies (1886). Of more general histories the most recent and one of thebest is Beckles Wilson, Ledger and Sword (1903).

Events in England affecting the early history of Virginia are relatedand the original papers given in Alexander Brown, Genesis of the UnitedStates (2 vols., 1891). Valuable articles by H. L. Osgood bearing onthis general subject are: "England and the Colonies" (Political ScienceQuarterly, II.); "Political Ideas of the Puritans" (ibid., VI., Nos. 1,2); and "The Colonial Corporation" (ibid., XI., Nos. 2, 3). See alsohis American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century (2 vols., 1904). Ongeneral commercial conditions, William Cunningham, Growth of EnglishIndustry and Commerce (revised ed., 1904).

RELIGIOUS HISTORY.--W. E. Griffis, The Pilgrims in their Three Homes(1898); Daniel Neal, History of the Puritans (4 vols., 1732-1738); W.A. Shaw, The English Church During the Commonwealth (1900); E.Eggleston, Beginners of a Nation (1897), gives interesting andunfamiliar details of the religious sects in England. A. B. Hinds, TheEngland of Elizabeth (1895), is a careful study of the origins ofEnglish Puritanism on the Continent. G. P. Gooch, English DemocraticIdeas in the Seventeenth Century (1898), throws light on the varioussects. William Sewel, History of the Quakers (1725), is a standardhistory on the origin of that body.

C. G. Walpole, The Kingdom of Ireland (1882), describes the "Plantationof Ulster" and the conditions that led to the emigration of the Scotch-Irish. Of value also are W. E. H. Lecky, England in the EighteenthCentury (8 vols., 1878-1890); J. P. Prendergast, The CromwellianSettlement of Ireland (1865); and H. Green, The Scotch-Irish in America(1895).

ENGLISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT.--For local government the admirablebibliography is Charles Gross, Bibliography of British MunicipalHistory, Including Gilds and Parliamentary Representatives (HarvardHistorical Studies, V., 1897). Contemporary legal treatises concerningcounty government are Michael Dalton, Officium Vicecomitum, or theOffice and Authority of Sheriffs (1623), and The Country Justice(1681); William Greenwood, Authority, Jurisdiction, and Method ofKeeping County Courts, Courts-Leet, and Courts-Baron, etc. (1659);William Lambarde, Eirenarcha, or the Office of the Justices of Peace(1588); A. Fitzherbert, L'Office et Authorities de Justices de Peace(1514), often quoted as "Crompton", an editor who enlarged the originalwork in 1583; John Wilkinson, Office and Authority of Coroners andSheriffs (1628). All these appear in numerous editions, the above datesbeing, as far as ascertained, those of the earliest editions.

Few records of county government exist to any large extent, and veryfew have been printed. Among them are three bodies of quarter-sessionsrecords. John Lister, West Riding Sessions Rolls, 1597-1602 (YorkshireArchaeological and Topographical Association, Records Series, III.,1888); J. C. Jeaffreson, Middlesex County Records, 1549-1608 (MiddlesexCounty Records Society, 1886-1892); Ernest Axon, in Record Society ofLancaster and Cheshire, Manchester Sessions, XLII. Some material forWiltshire and Worcestershire is published in the Historical ManuscriptsCommission, Reports, VI., VII.

A. H. A. Hamilton, Quarter-Sessions ... chiefly of Devon (1878),contains much on the subject. E. M. Leonard, The Early History of theEnglish Poor Relief (1900), is a scholarly study involving muchdescription of local administration and the central and localgovernments.

For the parish, Richard Burn, Ecclesiastical Law (2 vols., 1763);William Sheppard, Offices and Duties of Constables, Borsholders,Tythingmen, etc. (1641); William Lambarde, Duties of Church-wardens andDuties of Constables, affixed to his Eirenarcha (1581); George Meriton,Duties of Constables (1669). For the actual life of the parish,recourse must be had to the few bodies of such records that are printedseparately or in local histories. Some of these are as follows: J. L.Glasscock, Records of St. Michael's Church (1882); Collyer and Turner,Ilkley, Ancient and Modern (1885); W. T. Woodbridge, Rushbrook ParishRegisters (1903); W. O. Massingberd, History of Ormsby (1893); J. P.Earwaker, Constables' Accounts of Manchester (3 vols., 1891-1892); JohnNichols, Illustration of the Manners, etc., of England from Accounts ofChurch-wardens (1797).

The book that has exerted the most influence on opinion on this subjectis Toulmin Smith, The Parish (1854). It is, however, written in aspirit of controversy, many of its interpretations of the statutes arequite incorrect, and it must, therefore, be used with great caution.Its most valuable contents are its references to sources, and extractsfrom local records. Rudolf Gneist, Self-Government, Communalverfassungund Verwaltungsgeschichte in England (1871), is almost the sole workcovering the whole subject, but it is quite unsatisfactory, being drawnfrom a comparatively small group of sources. George E. Howard, LocalConstitutional History of the United States (Johns Hopkins UniversityStudies, extra vol. IV., 1889), and The Development of the King's Peace(Nebraska University Studies, I., 1890); Edward Channing, Town andCounty Government in the English Colonies of North America (JohnsHopkins University Studies, II., No. 10), and some other articles byHerbert B. Adams and others in the same series, include considerableinformation on local conditions in England, though their primaryreference is to America.